2. Hwang Yong-min
An alley engulfed in darkness.
Chwiik – Tak!
A group of people open beer cans and drink beer in one gulp.
“Key! I can’t believe I can legally drink beer now.”
“Hey, not yet. There are 30 minutes left until the New Year?”
“It’s like shit! Really. How long are we going to have to hide in the alley and drink like rats?”
“You are the rat. Why are you blaming us?”
“That’s because it’s annoying. Aren’t you guys annoyed?”
Hwang Yong-min emptied the contents in one gulp and nervously threw the beer can.
“Hey, do you have a fire?”
“I’m here, brother Yongmin.”
It was only after lighting a cigarette and exhaling deeply that the wrinkles on Hwang Yong-min’s forehead began to smooth out.
“Old kids don’t know why they can’t do this good thing.”
“Because he’s an old guy, that’s right.”
“Giggle giggle.”
Hwang Yong-min and his friends were giggling and laughing.
Then, occasionally, when he sees someone passing by in the alley, he stops laughing and gives a cold look.
As if to tell me to just stop paying attention and go on my way.
Then, if it’s a hundred people, you pretend not to have seen them and run away.
It was still like that now.
“Huh, hey. Did you see him running away because he was scared by the look in my eyes?”
“What about your eyes? Do your eyes have a glow-in-the-dark function? It was so dark that all you could see was a cigarette light?”
“Hey, but wasn’t the girl who just passed by pretty? She looks a little cold.”
“Seo A-rin? Really?”
“Ah, I want to kiss you in Seo-Arin’s arms.”
“Kkkkkkkk, you crazy bastard.”
“Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk!”
When Hwang Yong-min made a funny expression, his friends burst into laughter.
“Huh, hey. If you like it, go and get my number.”
“I’m a minor, will you accept it?”
“What are you afraid of? You’ll be an adult in a little while.”
As the saying goes, the sun changes at midnight.
I don’t have much time left until I become a high school student.
“Once vacation is over, I’m finally graduating from boring school.”
“What are you going to do when you graduate?”
“I’ll ask my dad to buy me a motorcycle and look into delivery. I heard you can make a lot of money with delivery these days.”
“Really? What about Taesik?”
“I’m planning to work at a factory that supports dormitories before I go to the military. I’m suffocating because I’m nagging at home so much, so I need to be able to live, f*ck.”
Hwang Yong-min giggled as he looked at his friend sighing and exhaling cigarette smoke.
“Yongmin and you?”
“Me? Didn’t I tell you before? I’m going to become a gangster.”
“Wow, were you serious about that?”
“Wasn’t it a joke?”
Hwang Yong-min furrowed his brows at the surprised reaction of his friends.
“I answered quite seriously, but you thought it was a joke?”
“Of course. Is there anyone in today’s world who dreams of becoming a gangster as a future?”
“You’re a gangster… aren’t you scared? If you do something wrong, you’ll get stabbed in the stomach and run after.”
Despite his friends’ concerns, Hwang Yong-min just snorted.
“f*ck, do you live your life once or twice? Just live your life as X and move on.”
“This bastard is a bastard, really.”
“Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk.”
My friends were giggling and laughing, but deep inside they were thinking the same thing.
‘Crazy guy.’
Although he was a problem child who was well recognized at school, he was a new child compared to Hwang Yong-min.
In the eyes of his friends, Hwang Yong-min was just an idiot.
‘Okay, you do X… … .’
‘When I graduate, I’m going to break up with this bastard.’
‘You idiot… … .’
Hwang Yong-min was the one who made the friends he had known since middle school distance themselves from each other.
“Anyway, when Yongmin graduates, what happens to the shuttle you were harassing?”
“Shuttle anyone?”
“You know, that stupid guy in the same class.”
“Oh, that bastard without a father?”
One corner of Hwang Yong-min’s mouth went up happily.
“Even if I graduate, I won’t let that bastard go.”
“Hehehehe, are you going to keep working for me even after I graduate?”
“Of course. It’s my private shuttle.”
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“Wow… what a pity. He must have thought that the shuttle business would end once he graduated.”
“Who wants it to end? We have to play with it as much as we can.”
“He is truly the devil. Even Satan will be my brother, hehehehehe.”
The group of people who were flirting and laughing emptied their beer cans.
Then I suddenly looked at my phone and saw that it was getting close to midnight.
“Hey, it’s the new year soon.”
“Oh, really?”
“Now, shall we go see the bell ringing? It’s happening right in front of us.”
“Oki-oki. Let’s go.”
Hwang Yong-min and the rest of the group headed to the front of Bosingak to hear the New Year’s Eve bell ringing.
“Wow, there are so many people.”
“It’s bustling like a swarm of ants.”
“Look for a pretty girl.”
I was looking around and watching people.
“Huh? Yongmin. Look over there, over there.”
My friend tapped his arm and pointed to one side.
“Isn’t that her? Your private shuttle.”
Hwang Yong-min’s eyes turned to Ryu Min.
“Oh, that’s right. My shuttle.”
When I saw it outside the school, I felt a sense of welcome for some reason.
“Did that little brat also come to watch the bell ringing?”
“I guess I came here to pray that I won’t be bullied by Yongmin in the new year.”
“Tsk tsk tsk, that’s an impossible wish.”
“I mean, hehehe.”
Hwang Yong-min, who was giggling, stopped while trying to approach Ryu Min.
‘hmm? That bastard… … .’
Ryumin just stood there confused, probably thinking about something.
Still, the atmosphere was special.
It doesn’t look like the droopy-shouldered shuttle we’re used to.
‘what? It feels strangely different from before… … .’
Then the host shouted.
“It’s finally time. Let’s all count down together!”
People went crazy and counted.
Then Hwang Yong-min and Iljin also participated in the count with the hope that the new year would come.
‘Baby, I’ll take care of you today.’
I didn’t want to bother him on New Year’s Day, so I didn’t approach him any further.
“……3, 2, 1! The new year of 2022 has finally arrived!”
“Waaaaaa!”
A crucible of enthusiasm.
In the middle of it all, Hwang Yong-min and his friends said a few words to each other.
“Happy New Year!”
“happy new year!”
“You’re finally an adult! Everyone has achieved what they have achieved this year…”
[Giggles.]
Hwang Yong-min, who was trying to say goodbye, was momentarily speechless.
It was because of an unidentified voice that came out of nowhere.
[Kyohohoho. They look just like monkeys locked in a cage when they are so confused.]
The voice that was heard again erased the smiles from people’s faces.
Hwang Yong-min was no different.
“This is a joke, right?”
At first, I dismissed it as a prank by the broadcaster, but my thoughts changed when I saw an angel appear with light in the sky.
‘Hey, this is real. It’s definitely not a joke.’
It was hard to believe it when I saw it with my own eyes, but there was no other way to explain the floating angel.
Furthermore.
Wow!
Let’s see the head of the young man who spoke informally to the angel explode.
“Aaaah!”
“Huh!”
Hwang Yong-min’s expression could not help but harden like that of other citizens.
‘X haircut… … ! ‘What the hell is this from the first day of the new year!’
I have never witnessed someone die in my life.
A death so intense that your head explodes like a firecracker.
That’s why Hwang Yong-min couldn’t even breathe properly in front of the angel.
When I turned my head, my friends saw the same thing.
‘however… … .’
Hwang Yong-min’s eyes turned to Ryu Min.
‘Why doesn’t that shuttle bastard’s expression change?’
If he was the Ryumin he knew, he should be scared or have a stone-faced expression on his face like a stone statue.
However, rather than being scared, the Ryumin seen in front of him has a relaxed expression.
Even.
‘huh?’
He suddenly turns his head and makes direct eye contact with me.
‘That bastard, how did he know I was here…? … .’
Not only that, he even curls up one corner of his mouth.
As if he was laughing at himself.
‘That bastard…’ … !’
Hwang Yong-min’s judgment was distorted by Shuttle’s confident expression, which he had never seen before at school, but that was it.
‘We’ll see, shuttle bastard.’
Now was not the time to express anger.
Because I found myself caught up in a hellish survival game where I had to survive until 20 rounds.
[Well, since the brief explanation is over, shall we go? Kyohohoho.]
Eventually, with the devilish angel’s laughter behind him, Hwang Yong-min’s vision went dark.
* * *
‘As expected, Hwang Yong-min was watching.’
When he was in high school, Ryu Min was a quiet child.
He was an ordinary student who did not particularly stand out or stand out.
‘I thought there would be no problem if I just stayed quiet and didn’t harm others.’
But it didn’t go as planned.
Ryu Min was singled out simply because he sat close to Hwang Yong-min.
I didn’t do anything particularly annoying or stand out.
‘What happens after that… … ‘I suffered all the bullying.’
It was normal to be teased during recess, and if I was bored, I would be called to the mountain behind the school and beaten.
I ordered them to buy me a bread shuttle, as well as alcohol and cigarettes.
Then, I got caught by the convenience store owner and had to speak with a bitter face when the police called my parents.
-My parents… … no.
When asked why I didn’t have one, I had to reluctantly answer.
-He died in a car accident when he was in middle school… … .
At this point, the police officer feels sorry for him and just tells him not to do this again and sends him home.
‘Then the bullying repeats itself again.’
Repetition of a vicious cycle.
There was nothing Ryu Min could do in front of a strong man.
I suffered all kinds of humiliation to the point where I was afraid to go to school.
‘But not anymore.’
After numerous regressions and deaths, Ryumin became a completely different person.
The timid and weak self was no longer there.
99 regressions turned him from an ordinary person into an extraordinary being.
Is that why?
He was able to remain calm even after seeing Hwang Yong-min harassing him.
‘Actually, I don’t feel anything when I look at him.’
The reason was simple.
Because I’ve already taken revenge to the point where I’m tired of going back over and over again.
‘Did you take revenge on that guy from the 7th episode?’
After becoming more confident and stronger in his strategy, Ryu Min took revenge on Hwang Yong-min.
I paid back what was suffered.
He was asked to save his life, but he became a vengeful spirit and killed him.
Not just once.
Every time I repeated the episode, I killed and killed again.
Until all the revenge from the past is resolved.
‘But after repeating it over 20 times, it became meaningless.’
Revenge was so boring that now, in the 100th episode, I didn’t feel anything when I saw Hwang Yong-min.
‘There’s no point in taking revenge again now. Because there is no benefit. Even if you kill him, you have to use him and kill him.’
I already had a plan in my head as to how I would use him.
However, I have no intention of taking him until the last round.
‘First of all, what we need to do now… … .’
Ryumin looked up.
I found myself immersed in an empty, pure white space.
After a while.
[Kyohohoho, everyone is probably wondering where they are, right?]
I hear the devil’s voice that I heard so much about.
[You are now in a private space where you cannot see each other. Before you can transfer your soul, you need to construct a body. If you think of a game that humans enjoy, it involves creating an avatar.]
‘It’s a kind of customization.’
Most people would be embarrassed by the word avatar, but Ryumin was calm.
Because it was an avatar I had created dozens of times.
Soon, an avatar that looked exactly like him appeared in the white space.
The avatar moved along with itself like a mirror.
[From now on, you can adjust your face or body as you wish. You can also choose a nickname to use in other dimensions. It’s the same as the process of creating a character in the game, so there shouldn’t be any difficulties.]
Since teenagers and young adults who are already familiar with the game have been captured, there will be no problems with the process.
[There is only one chance, so everyone must decide carefully. Then, shall we start by deciding on a nickname?]
After a while, a mechanical sound that was completely different from the angel’s voice was heard.
[Please tell us the nickname you want to register in the system within 30 seconds.]
[If you do not decide within the time limit, your real name will be automatically registered.]
‘My nickname is… … .’
Ryumin’s lips moved without any hesitation.
